March 25, 2011

Marion eager for role definition

Shawn Marion wants to be a starter.

Either that, or he wants to be a sixth man.

He does not want to be both.

Marion, who has had a quality season but has been better as
a starter than coming off the bench, said the Mavericks have reached that point
where a decision must be made about who starts at small forward.

“We got to,’’ he said. “We got to
decide on what we’re going to do. We got to make decisions. It’s
not my choice to make. But he (Rick Carlisle) has to. And everybody still has
to be ready, because you just never know.’’

It appears the decision has been made, for now, with Marion
starting his 17th game of the season Thursday night against
Minnesota.

That meant Peja Stojakovic came off the bench. So did DeShawn
Stevenson, for all of four seconds at the end of the third quarter.

The guess here is that the Mavericks are going to need
Stevenson again at some point. But it appears now is not that point.

Meanwhile, Stojakovic is such a wily veteran that he knows
he’s going to get the best amount of playing time in Carlisle’s
eyes that helps the Mavericks win.

“You got to be ready to play,’’ Stojakovic
said. “At this part of the season, we all have the same goal and we all
have to be ready. It doesn’t matter how many minutes it’s going to
be.’’
Is he truly OK with coming off the bench?

“Probably in the past, when I was younger, I was
thinking about it more,’’ he said. “But at this point,
whenever your name is called, you have to be ready to play.’’